As the channel size of a semiconductor device becomes less than or equal to 65 nm, the increase of effective oxide thickness due to depletion of a poly-silicon layer when forming a gate has been recognized as a significant problem. A metallic gate may be used for reducing the depletion effect of the poly-silicon layer. However, in order to use such a metallic gate, different metals should be used on NMOS and PMOS, respectively, in a fabricating process. Accordingly, there is proposed a fully silicided silicon (FUSI) method, in which a metallic layer is deposited on a poly-silicon layer, and a silicide is subsequently formed through a heat treatment.
However, in one example where cobalt (Co) is deposited on a poly-silicon layer, a cobalt silicide is formed through an annealing process, it is difficult to form FUSI only through the heat treatment of silicon and cobalt.
In one example where FUSI is formed by stacking cobalt on a poly-silicon layer, the cobalt needs be diffused into the relatively thicker and narrower poly-silicon to form a silicide. This causes the thus formed FUSI not close enough to a gate oxidation film formed in the lower portion of the poly-silicon. In order to prevent this from happening, a high-temperature heat treatment process should be added. The addition of such a high-temperature process, however, may lower device performance caused by the deterioration of a transistor due to an excessive thermal budget.